Method for providing supplementary service control menu and system to provide the supplementary service control menu

ABSTRACT

A system to provide a supplementary service control menu includes an information collection unit to collect state information associated with a supplementary service; a level determination unit to determine a level of the supplementary service using the state information; a menu building unit to generate an identifier (ID) of the supplementary service and to build the supplementary service control menu; and a menu display unit to display the built supplementary service control menu including the supplementary service having an effect associated with the level on a screen. A method for providing the supplementary service control menu includes collecting state information associated with a supplementary service; determining a level of the supplementary service; generating an ID of the supplementary service; building the supplementary service control menu including the generated ID; and displaying the supplementary service control menu including the supplementary service having an effect associated with the level.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/816,688, filed on Jun. 16, 2010, and claims priority fromand benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0065796, filed onJul. 20, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference for allpurposes as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to a method for providing a supplementaryservice control menu that may provide information for use of asupplementary service in a mobile terminal, and a system to provide asupplementary service control menu.

2. Discussion of the Background

Due to the development of communication technologies, a mobilecommunication terminal may provide a variety of functions such asvoice/video call, a Short Message Service (SMS), an email, wirelessInternet, a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB), and the like.

Also, various supplementary services using a mobile communicationnetwork are currently provided.

For example, a supplementary service (SS) registered as a standard mayinclude eMLPP, Call Deflection SS (CD), Number Identification SS (CLIP,CLIR, CoLP, CoLR), Call Offering SS (CFU, CFB, CFNRy, CFNRc), CallCompletion SS (CW, HOLD), Multi Party SS (MPTY), Community of InterestSS (CUG), User-to-User SS (UUS), Charging SS (AoCI, AoCC), CallRestriction SS (BAOC, BOIC, BOIC-exHC, BAIC, BAIC-Roam), Call TransferSS (ECT), Completion of Calls to Busy Subscribers (CCBS SS, CCBSRequests), Name Identification SS (CNAP), Multicall (MC), Follow Me (FM)Service, and the like.

Also, a technology of displaying related information on a screen toenable a user to check a state of a supplementary service which the userhas subscribed to has been provided.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2006-0088266, entitled ‘Apparatus andmethod for displaying the status of supplementary service of mobileterminal equipment’, discloses a method of simultaneously displayingactivation status of a plurality of supplementary services that a userhas subscribed to on a screen.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a screen displaying a status of asupplementary service of a mobile terminal in a conventional art.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, information about whether a user subscribes toa supplementary service and information about whether a subscribed-tosupplementary service is activated/deactivated may be received through anetwork and displayed on a menu screen.

However, accurate information for use of a supplementary service and acontrol service method have not been provided in a conventional art.

Even though a user subscribes to a supplementary service, the user maynot often change a deactivated supplementary service to an activatedsupplementary service due to a conflict among supplementary services, anerror generated in a network/terminal, and the like. Accordingly, it maybe difficult to determine whether the user actually uses a desiredsupplementary service just by observing the activation/deactivationstate of the supplementary service. That is, in a conventional art,since the user may not be provided with information about asupplementary service that is not used even though the supplementaryservice is changed from deactivated to activated, an error may occurwhen the user requests the supplementary service to be changed toactivated.

Also, in a conventional art, an appropriate service for notifying orprocessing an error may not be provided. Accordingly, a user may berequired to make an inquiry to a communication service provider or aterminal manufacturer about a cause of an error or about a method tohandle the error, or the user may need to wait for a service to becomeoperational.

Thus, a method of providing a user with more accurate information foruse of a supplementary service is desired.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a method forproviding a supplementary service control menu that may provide a userwith state information used with a supplementary service, such aswhether the user has subscribed to the supplementary service, whetherthe supplementary service is activated/deactivated, and whether aplurality of supplementary services is compatible with each other, usingan effect of an identifier included in the supplementary service controlmenu. Exemplary embodiments also provide a system to provide thesupplementary service control menu.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a method forproviding a supplementary service control menu that may provide apredetermined procedure for handling an error based on an error value,which may be defined in a standard created by a network, a mobileterminal, or a user, when an error associated with a use of asupplementary service occurs.

Additional features of the invention will be set forth in thedescription which follows, and in part will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses a system toprovide a supplementary service control menu. The system includes: aninformation collection unit to collect state information associated witha supplementary service; a level determination unit to determine a levelof the supplementary service using the collected state information; amenu building unit to generate an identifier (ID) of the supplementaryservice, and to build the supplementary service control menu includingthe generated ID; and a menu display unit to display the supplementaryservice control menu, including the supplementary service with an effectassociated with the level, on a screen.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses a method forproviding a supplementary service control menu. The method includes:collecting state information associated with a supplementary service;determining a level of the supplementary service using the collectedstate information; generating an ID of the supplementary service;building the supplementary service control menu; and displaying thebuilt supplementary service control menu, including the supplementaryservice with an effect associated with the level, on a screen.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displaying astatus of a supplementary service of a mobile terminal in a conventionalart.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a screen providing a supplementaryservice control menu according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a system toprovide a supplementary service control menu according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of collected stateinformation associated with a supplementary service.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of determining a level of asupplementary service and an effect that distinguishes levels ofsupplementary services.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing anot-subscribed-to error.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing a networkerror.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing an errorassociated with a conflict among supplementary services.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing asupplementary service control menu according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for processing anerror, generated when a change command is generated with respect tostate information of a supplementary service in a supplementary servicecontrol menu, and an operation for changing state information based onthe change command when the error does not occur.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

The invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown.This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms andshould not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure isthorough, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes oflayers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity. Like referencenumerals in the drawings denote like elements.

The mobile terminal described with reference to the illustratedembodiments may include a computer terminal, a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN) terminal, a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) terminal,a session initiation protocol (SIP) terminal, a media gateway control(Megaco) terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, apersonal communication service (PCS) phone, a hand-held personalcomputer (hand-held PC), a code-division multiple access (CDMA)-2000(1X, 3X) phone, a wideband code-division multiple access (wideband CDMA)phone, a dual band/dual mode phone, a Global System for MobileCommunication (GSM) phone, a mobile broadband system (MBS) phone, or asatellite/terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) phone, andthe like. That is, the mobile terminal may include a general personalcomputer as well as a terminal that may be extended through portableterminals such as a cellular phone, a notebook computer, and a PDA.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a screen providing a supplementaryservice control menu according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

An example where an internal menu 210 of a phone changes to thesupplementary service control menu 220 is illustrated in FIG. 2.

When a user selects an item of ‘4. supplementary service’ from theinternal menu 210, a command to enter the supplementary service controlmenu 220 may be generated.

A system that provides a supplementary service control menu,hereinafter, referred to as the system, may request and receive stateinformation, or read the state information stored in a memory. Here, thestate information may include subscription information of asupplementary service of a mobile terminal, activation information of asubscribed-to supplementary service, and compatibility information amonga plurality of supplementary services.

For example, the system may receive the activation information and thesubscription information of the supplementary service from a serviceserver associated with a mobile communication service provider, and mayreceive the compatibility information among the plurality ofsupplementary services from a service server associated with a terminalmanufacturer.

Also, the system may analyze the state information, determine a level ofthe supplementary service, generate an identifier (ID) generating aneffect, build the supplementary service control menu 220 including thegenerated ID, and display the supplementary service control menu 220 ona screen. The effect may be predetermined for each level.

For example, the system may determine a supplementary service, which issubscribed to and activated, as a first level, and a supplementaryservice, which is not subscribed to, as a second level. Also, the systemmay determine a supplementary service, which is subscribed to,deactivated, and compatible with an activated supplementary service, asa third level, and a supplementary service, which is subscribed to,deactivated, and incompatible with an activated supplementary service,as a fourth level.

Also, the system may generate the ID by applying at least one of a font,color, italics, a thickness, an underline, and shadow, to a title of thesupplementary service, or may generate an ID including an imagepredetermined for each level. Here, the font, color, italics, athickness, an underline, and shadow may be determined for each level.

Referring to the supplementary service control menu 220 of FIG. 2, thesystem may display a Call Forwarding Busy (CFB), which is asupplementary service determined as a first level, in blue, and aMultiple Subscriber Profile (MSP), which is a supplementary servicedetermined as a second level, in black. Also, the system may display aCall Forwarding Unconditional (CFU), a Call Forwarding on No Reply(CFNRy), and a Call Forwarding Not Reachable (CFNRc), which aresupplementary services determined as a third level, in light blue. Also,the system may display a Barring of all outgoing calls (BAOC), a Barringof All Outgoing International Calls (BAOIC), and a BAOIC except to theHome Country (exHC), which are supplementary services determined as afourth level, in gray.

Accordingly, a user may ascertain whether the supplementary service isnot subscribed to yet, whether the supplementary service is subscribedto and activated at present, whether the supplementary service may bechanged to be activated although subscribed to and deactivated atpresent, through the colors of the supplementary services included inthe supplementary service control menu 220.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a system toprovide a supplementary service control menu according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

The system 300 may include an information collection unit 310, a leveldetermination unit 320, a menu building unit 330, a menu display unit340, a memory unit 350, an error determination unit 360, and an errorprocessing unit 370.

The information collection unit 310 may collect state informationassociated with a supplementary service based on a command to enter thesupplementary service control menu.

For example, the information collection unit 310 may interrogate aservice server associated with the supplementary service, and collectthe state information from the service server when the command isgenerated.

Alternatively, the information collection unit 310 may store stateinformation, periodically downloaded from the service server, in thememory unit 350, and collect the state information in the memory unit350 when the command is generated.

Alternatively, the information collection unit 310 may collect stateinformation, such as compatibility information, stored in the memoryunit 350 when a mobile terminal is programmed.

Hereinafter, the information collection unit 310 is described in moredetail with reference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of collected stateinformation associated with the supplementary service.

When a user selects the item of ‘4. supplementary service’ from theinternal menu 210 illustrated in FIG. 2, and a command to enter thesupplementary service control menu 220 may be generated, the informationcollection unit 310 may collect state information associated with thesupplementary service with respect to a mobile terminal or the user.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the state information associated with thesupplementary service may include subscription information andactivation information of the supplementary service, and compatibilityinformation among a plurality of supplementary services.

Here, the subscription information may include information about whetherthe user subscribes to the supplementary service.

Also, the activation information may include information about whetherthe supplementary service is activated/deactivated. For example, whenthe activation information of the supplementary service is ‘activated’,the supplementary service is being used by the user. When the activationinformation of the supplementary service is ‘deactivated’, thesupplementary service is not currently used by the user.

Also, the compatibility information may include information aboutwhether the plurality of supplementary services is compatible with eachother based on whether a conflict among the plurality of supplementaryservices occurs when the plurality of supplementary services issimultaneously activated. For example, the compatibility information mayinclude information about ‘being compatible’ when a conflict does notoccur, and information about ‘being incompatible’ when a conflictoccurs.

For example, a conflict may occur when a call barring is activated, whena call forwarding service to change an incoming call to another numberis activated while a supplementary service ‘A’ is activated, and when itis desired that a deactivated supplementary service ‘B’ changes to beactivated. In this case, compatibility information of the supplementaryservice ‘B’ may include information about being incompatible with theactivated supplementary services and with the deactivated supplementaryservices.

For reference, the compatibility information illustrated in FIG. 4 mayinclude information about whether a supplementary service iscompatible/incompatible depending on whether a conflict exists with anyone or any combination of CFU, CFNRy, CFNRc, BAOC, BAOIC, and BAOICexHC, which are currently deactivated supplementary services, and CFB,which is a currently activated supplementary service, occurs, when thedeactivated supplementary services are activated.

The error processing unit 370 may determine whether a conflict among aplurality of supplementary services occurs, and control a portion of theplurality of supplementary services to be deactivated when it isdetermined that a conflict occurs. Here, the plurality of supplementaryservices may be confirmed to be activated based on the activationinformation included in the state information.

The level determination unit 320 may determine a level of thesupplementary service using the collected state information.

Also, the level determination unit 320 may store the determined level inthe memory unit 350. The memory unit 350 may be embodied as a variety ofstoring media such as an Encrypting File System (EFS).

For example, the level determination unit 320 may extract thesubscription information and the activation information of thesupplementary service from the state information, and determine thelevel using the extracted subscription information and the extractedactivation information.

In this instance, the level determination unit 320 may determine thelevel using the compatibility information included in the stateinformation, with respect to a supplementary service that is confirmedto be deactivated based on the activation information.

That is, the level determination unit 320 may determine whether aconflict among the deactivated supplementary service and an activatedsupplementary service occurs, and may determine the level using a resultof the determination.

Hereinafter, the level determination unit 320 is described in moredetail with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of determining a level of asupplementary service and an effect that distinguishes levels ofsupplementary services.

The level determination unit 320 may determine a supplementary serviceCFB as a first level. The supplementary service CFB may be confirmed tobe subscribed to based on the subscription information of the stateinformation illustrated in FIG. 4, and confirmed to be activated basedon the activation information of the state information.

Also, the level determination unit 320 may determine supplementaryservices MSP and MC as a second level. The supplementary services MSPand MC may be confirmed to be not subscribed to based on thesubscription information.

Also, the level determination unit 320 may determine supplementaryservices, CFU, CFNRy, and CFNRc, as a third level. The supplementaryservices, CFU, CFNRy, and CFNRc, may be confirmed to be subscribed tobased on the subscription information, confirmed to be deactivated basedon the activation information, and compatible, that is, thecompatibility information of the state information being compatible,with the activated supplementary service CFB. Also, the leveldetermination unit 320 may determine supplementary services, BAOC,BAOIC, and BAOIC exHC, as a fourth level. The supplementary services,BAOC, BAOIC, and BAOIC exHC, may be incompatible, confirmed to besubscribed to based on the subscription information, and confirmed to bedeactivated based on the activation information.

In this instance, the effect to distinguish the levels may be at leastone displayed property, for example a font, color, italics, a thickness,an underline, and a shadow. Alternatively, the effect may be an imagepredetermined for each level.

The menu building unit 330 may generate an ID of the supplementaryservice, and build the supplementary service control menu including thegenerated ID. The ID may generate the effect to distinguish the levels.The menu display unit 340 may display the built supplementary servicecontrol menu on a screen.

For example, the menu building unit 330 cause the screen to emit apredetermined color for the determined level as the effect, or maygenerate the ID including an image predetermined for the level.

Here, the effect may be a property such as font, italics, a thickness,an underline, and a shadow, as well as the color and image predeterminedfor each level. Also, the ID may be a title or an image itself of thesupplementary service generating the effect.

That is, the menu building unit 330 may generate the title where thefont predetermined for each level is applied, as the ID, or generate theID including the image predetermined for each level, to build thesupplementary service control menu.

Also, the menu display unit 340 may display the built supplementaryservice control menu on a screen as illustrated in FIG. 2.

That is, referring to the supplementary service control menu 220 of FIG.2, the menu display unit 340 may display the supplementary service CFBdetermined as the first level in blue corresponding to the first level,the supplementary services MSP and MC determined as the second level inblack corresponding to the second level, the supplementary services CFU,CFNRy, and CFNRc, determined as the third level in pale bluecorresponding to the third level, and the supplementary services, BAOC,BAOIC, and BAOIC exHC determined as the fourth level in graycorresponding to the fourth level.

Accordingly, a user may determine whether the supplementary service isnot subscribed to, whether the supplementary service is subscribed toand currently activated, whether the supplementary service is subscribedto, currently deactivated, and changed to be activated, and whether thesupplementary service is subscribed to, currently deactivated, and notchanged to be activated, through the color of the supplementary serviceof the supplementary service control menu 220.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the state information, such asinformation about whether the supplementary service is subscribed to,whether the supplementary service is activated, and whether a pluralityof supplementary services is compatible, may be provided to a userthrough the effect of the ID included in the supplementary servicecontrol menu.

The error determination unit 360 may determine whether an error occurswhen a change command of the state information is generated in thesupplementary service control menu displayed on the screen.

For example, when an ID having the effect of being displayed in gray,‘5. BAOC’, is selected by a user from the supplementary service controlmenu 220 illustrated in FIG. 2, a change command with respect toactivation information of a supplementary service of the selected ID maybe generated.

Accordingly, when activation information of the supplementary serviceBAOC changes to be activated based on the change command, the errordetermination unit 360 may determine whether an error, such as anot-subscribed-to error, a user input error, a network error, an errorassociated with a conflict among supplementary services, and an errorassociated with an unsupported network, occurs.

When it is determined that the error occurs, the error processing unit370 may process the error according to a predetermined processassociated with the type of error.

For example, the error processing unit 370 may collect a user's manualfrom the memory unit 350 storing a method for processing an error, orreceive the user's manual from a service server to process the error.

Alternatively, when it is determined that the error does not occur, orwhen the error is processed, the error processing unit 370 may changethe state information based on the change command.

That is, the error processing unit 370 may change the activationinformation of the supplementary service BAOC to be activated fromdeactivated.

Accordingly, a level of the supplementary service BAOC, which is storedin the memory unit 350, may be changed to a first level from a fourthlevel corresponding to the effect of being displayed in gray. Also, aneffect of an ID of ‘5. BAOC’ may be changed to be displayed in bluecorresponding to the first level in the supplementary service controlmenu 220 illustrated in FIG. 2.

For example, when the change command is generated, and the errordetermination unit 360 determines that the user input error occurs, theerror processing unit 370 may display a re-input request message on thescreen according to the predetermined process associated with the error.

That is, when the user input error occurs since a password is notinputted by the user within a predetermined time period or an incorrectpassword is inputted, the error processing unit 370 may display amessage requesting the user to re-input the password on the screenaccording to the predetermined process associated with the error.

Accordingly, when the password is correctly inputted by the user, theerror processing unit 370 may change the activation information of thesupplementary service BAOC to be activated, from being deactivated,based on the change command.

For another example, when a change command associated with stateinformation of a supplementary service, which is not supported by anetwork service provider, is generated, the error determination unit 360may determine that the error associated with the unsupported networkoccurs, and the error processing unit 370 may display an error messageon the screen according to the predetermined process associated with theerror.

For another example, when a change command associated with stateinformation of a supplementary service, which is confirmed to be notsubscribed to, is generated, the error determination unit 360 maydetermine that a not-subscribed-to error occurs, and the errorprocessing unit 370 may display an error message on the screen accordingto the predetermined process associated with the error. When asubscription of the supplementary service is requested, the errorprocessing unit 370 may enable the subscription of the supplementaryservice by connecting to a communication service provider.

Hereinafter, the error processing unit 370 is described in more detailwith reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing anot-subscribed-to error.

When an ID of ‘28. MSP’ having the effect of being displayed in black isselected from the supplementary service control menu 220 illustrated inFIG. 2, and the change command is generated, the error determinationunit 360 may determine that the not-subscribed-to error occurs.

Also, the error processing unit 370 may display an error message 610 onthe screen according to the predetermined process associated with theerror. When the subscription of the supplementary service MSP isrequested by the user, the error processing unit 370 may connect to thecommunication service provider through the Internet/a phone call, anddisplay a connection message 620.

Also, when the user is subscribed to the supplementary service MSP, theerror processing unit 370 may change activation information of thesupplementary service MSP to be activated.

For another example, when the error determination unit 360 may determinethat the network error occurs when the change command is generated, theerror processing unit 370 may reattempt the change command within apredetermined time period according to the predetermined processassociated with the error, and display a result of the reattempt on thescreen.

Hereinafter, the error processing unit 370 is described in more detailwith reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing a networkerror.

Referring to FIG. 7, the error processing unit 370 may display an errormessage 710 on the screen according to the predetermined processassociated with the error. When a timer is operated by the user, theerror processing unit 370 may automatically reattempt the change commandwithin a predetermined time period.

Also, when the network error is processed within a predetermined timeperiod and the reattempt is successful, the error processing unit 370may display a message 720 associated with the reattempt success. Whenthe reattempt fails, the error processing unit 370 may display a message730 associated with the reattempt failure on the screen. Also, when thetimer operation is canceled by the user, the error processing unit 370may terminate the reattempt.

For another example, when the change command is associated with a changeof a second supplementary service to be activated, the errordetermination unit 360 may determine that the error associated with aconflict between the supplementary services occurs. Here, the conflictbetween the second supplementary service and a first supplementaryservice, which is activated, occurs. The error processing unit 370 maydisplay a message, requesting a user to select the first supplementaryservice or the second supplementary service, on the screen.

In this instance, when the second supplementary service is selected inthe message, the error processing unit 370 may change activationinformation, included in state information of the first supplementaryservice, to be deactivated, and change activation information, includedin state information of the second supplementary service, to beactivated based on the change command.

Hereinafter, the error processing unit 370 is described in detail withreference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing the errorassociated with a conflict among supplementary services.

Referring to the compatibility information of the state informationillustrated in FIG. 4, when a change command is generated with respectto a supplementary service CFB, which is activated, and a supplementaryservice BAOC, which is incompatible with activated supplementary serviceCFB, the error determination unit 360 may determine that the errorassociated with a conflict among the supplementary services occurs.

Accordingly, the error processing unit 370 may display a message 810requesting a user to confirm whether to activate a supplementaryservice, on the screen according to the predetermined process associatedwith the error.

When a change of the currently deactivated second supplementary serviceBAOC to be activated is selected in the message 810, the errorprocessing unit 370 may change the activation information of the firstsupplementary service CFB, which is activated at present, to bedeactivated, and display a message 820 on the screen. The message 820may be associated with the deactivation of the first supplementaryservice CFB.

Also, the error processing unit 370 may change the activationinformation of the second supplementary service BAOC to be activatedbased on the change command.

Accordingly, when an error associated with use of a supplementaryservice occurs, a predetermined process for error handling may beprovided based on an error value, which may be defined in a standardgenerated by a network, a mobile terminal, or a user, such as a user'smanual.

A method for providing a supplementary service control menu,hereinafter, referred to as the method, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention may be performed by the system 300.Hereinafter, for ease of description, the method illustrated in FIG. 9and an operation of processing an error illustrated in FIG. 10 aredescribed with reference to FIG. 3, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the method for providing asupplementary service control menu according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

In operation 910, the system 300 may determine whether a command toenter a supplementary service control menu is generated.

Referring to FIG. 2, when ‘4. supplementary service’ is selected by theuser from the internal menu 210 displayed on the screen, through key ormenu, the command to enter the supplementary service control menu 220may be generated.

When the command is generated as a result of the determination inoperation 910, the system 300 may collect state information associatedwith the supplementary service in operation 920.

For example, an information collection unit 310 may receive subscriptioninformation and activation information of the supplementary service byperforming interrogation with a service server associated with a mobilecommunication service provider, and may receive compatibilityinformation among a plurality of supplementary services from a serviceserver associated with a mobile terminal manufacturer.

Alternatively, the information collection unit 310 may store the stateinformation, periodically downloaded from the service server, in amemory unit 350. Also, the information collection unit 310 may collectthe state information from the memory unit 350 when the command isgenerated.

Alternatively, the information collection unit 310 may collect stateinformation such as compatibility information which is stored in thememory unit 350 when a mobile terminal is programmed.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, state information associated with asupplementary service may include subscription information of thesupplementary service, activation information of the supplementaryservice, and compatibility information among a plurality ofsupplementary services.

In operation 930, the system 300 may determine a level of thesupplementary service using the collected state information.

A level determination unit 320 may determine a supplementary service CFBas a first level. The supplementary service CFB may be confirmed to besubscribed to based on the subscription information of the stateinformation illustrated in FIG. 4 and confirmed to be activated based onthe activation information of the state information.

Also, the level determination unit 320 may determine supplementaryservices MSP and MC as a second level. The supplementary services MSPand MC may be confirmed to be not subscribed to based on thesubscription information.

Also, the level determination unit 320 may determine supplementaryservices, CFU, CFNRy, and CFNRc, as a third level. The supplementaryservices, CFU, CFNRy, and CFNRc, may be confirmed to be subscribed tobased on the subscription information, confirmed to be deactivated basedon the activation information, and be compatible, that is, thecompatibility information of the state information indicatingcompatibility. Also, the level determination unit 320 may determinesupplementary services, BAOC, BAOIC, and BAOIC exHC, as a fourth level.The supplementary services, BAOC, BAOIC, and BAOIC exHC, may beincompatible, confirmed to be subscribed to based on the subscriptioninformation, and confirmed to be deactivated based on the activationinformation.

In operation 940, the system 300 may generate an ID of the supplementaryservice generating an effect to distinguish the levels. In operation950, the system 300 may build the supplementary service control menuincluding the generated ID, and display the supplementary servicecontrol menu.

Here, the effect may be a property such as font, italics, a thickness,an underline, and a shadow, as well as a color and an imagepredetermined for each level. Also, the ID may be a title or an image ofthe supplementary service generating the effect.

That is, a menu building unit 330 may generate a title where the fontproperty predetermined for each level is applied, as the ID, or generatethe ID including the image predetermined for each level. Also, a menudisplay unit 340 may display the supplementary service control menuincluding the generated ID as illustrated in FIG. 2.

Accordingly, a user may observe whether the supplementary service is notsubscribed to, whether the supplementary service is subscribed to andcurrently activated, whether the supplementary service is subscribed to,currently deactivated, and compatible with an activated supplementaryservice, and whether the supplementary service is subscribed to,currently deactivated, and not compatible with an activatedsupplementary service, through the color of the supplementary service ofthe supplementary service control menu 220.

Thus, the state information associated with the supplementary service,such as information about whether the supplementary service issubscribed to, whether the supplementary service is activated, andwhether supplementary services are compatible, may be more accuratelyprovided to the user through the effect of the ID included in thesupplementary service control menu.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for processing anerror, generated when a change command is generated with respect tostate information of a supplementary service in a supplementary servicecontrol menu, and an operation for changing state information based onthe change command when the error does not occur.

In operation 1005, the system 300 may determine whether a change commandis generated with respect to the state information of the supplementaryservice in the supplementary service control menu displayed on thescreen.

For example, when an ID having the effect of being displayed in gray,‘5. BAOC’, is selected by a user from the supplementary service controlmenu 220 illustrated in FIG. 2, a change command with respect toactivation information of a supplementary service of the selected ID maybe generated.

When the change command is generated based on a result of thedetermination in operation 1005, the system 300 may determine whether anot subscribed-to error occurs in operation 1010.

Referring to FIG. 2, when an ID of ‘28. MSP’ having the effect of beingdisplayed in black is selected from the supplementary service controlmenu 220, and the change command is generated, an error determinationunit 360 may determine that the not-subscribed-to error occurs.

When the not-subscribed-to error occurs as a result of the determinationin operation 1010, the system 300 may display an error message 610 onthe screen according to a predetermined process associated with theerror in operation 1015. When the subscription of the supplementaryservice MSP is requested by the user, the system 300 may connect to thecommunication service provider through the Internet/a phone call anddisplay a connection message 620.

When the not-subscribed-to error does not occur as a result of thedetermination in operation 1010, the system 300 may determine whether auser input error occurs in operation 1020.

That is, the error determination unit 360 may determine whether the userinput error occurs since a password is not inputted by the user within apredetermined time period or an incorrect password is inputted.

When the user input error occurs as a result of the determination inoperation 1020, the system 300 may display a message requesting the userto re-input the password on the screen according to a predeterminedprocess associated with the error in operation 1025.

When the user input error does not occur as a result of thedetermination in operation 1020, the system 300 may determine whether anetwork error occurs in operation 1030.

When the network error occurs as a result of the determination inoperation 1030, the system 300 may reattempt the change command within apredetermined time period, and display a result of the reattempt on thescreen in operation 1035.

That is, an error processing unit 370 may display an error message 710on the screen according to the predetermined process associated with theerror. When a timer is operated by the user, the error processing unit370 may automatically reattempt the change command within apredetermined time period.

Also, when the network error is processed within a predetermined timeperiod and the reattempt is successful, the error processing unit 370may display a message 720 associated with the reattempt success. Whenthe reattempt fails, the error processing unit 370 may display a message730 associated with the reattempt failure on the screen. Also, when thetimer operation is canceled by the user, the error processing unit 370may terminate the reattempt.

When the network error does not occur as a result of the determinationin operation 1030, the system 300 may determine an error associated witha conflict among supplementary services occurs in operation 1040.

That is, when a change command is generated with respect to asupplementary service BAOC which is deactivated and incompatible, theerror determination unit 360 may determine that the error associatedwith a conflict among supplementary services occurs.

When the error associated with a conflict among supplementary servicesoccurs as a result of the determination in operation 1040, the system300 may display a message 810, requesting a user to select asupplementary service to be activated, on the screen according to thepredetermined process associated with the error in operation 1045.

When a change to the second supplementary service BAOC, which isdeactivated at present, is selected in the message 810, the errorprocessing unit 370 may change the activation information of the firstsupplementary service CFB, which is activated at present, to bedeactivated. Also, a message 820, associated with the deactivation ofthe first supplementary service CFB, may be displayed on the screen.

When the error associated with a conflict among supplementary servicesdoes not occur as a result of the determination in operation 1040, thesystem 300 may determine whether an error associated with theunsupported network occurs in operation 1050.

That is, when a change command associated with state information of asupplementary service, which is not supported by a network serviceprovider, is generated, the error determination unit 360 may determinethat the error associated with the unsupported network occurs.

When the error associated with the unsupported network occurs as aresult of the determination in operation 1050, the system 300 maydisplay an error message on the screen according to a predeterminedprocess associated with the error in operation 1055.

When the error associated with the unsupported network does not occur asa result of the determination in operation 1050, or when the error iscompletely processed, the system 300 may change the state information ofthe supplementary service based on the change command in operation 1060.

That is, the error processing unit 370 may change activation informationof the supplementary service BAOC to be activated based on the changecommand.

Accordingly, a level of the supplementary service BAOC, which is storedin the memory unit 350, may be changed to a first level from a fourthlevel corresponding to the effect of being displayed in gray. Also, aneffect of an ID of ‘5. BAOC’ may be changed to be displayed bluecorresponding to the first level, in the supplementary service controlmenu 220 illustrated in FIG. 2.

According to an exemplary embodiment, when an error associated with useof a supplementary service occurs, a user's manual for an error handlingmay be provided based on an error value, which is defined in a standardgenerated by a network, a mobile terminal, or a user.

According to an exemplary embodiment, even when a supplementary servicespecification is changed or extended in a next generation standard inthe future, information for use of supplementary services may beprovided to a user through a supplementary service control menu, whenstate information, such as compatibility information among a pluralityof supplementary services stored in a mobile terminal, is upgraded usinga Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) service, and the like.

The above-described exemplary embodiments of the present invention maybe recorded in computer-readable media including program instructions toimplement various operations embodied by a computer. The media may alsoinclude, alone or in combination with the program instructions, datafiles, data structures, and the like. Examples of computer-readablemedia include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, andmagnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks and DVDs;magneto-optical media such as optical disks; and hardware devices thatare specially configured to store and perform program instructions, suchas read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, andthe like. Examples of program instructions include both machine code,such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level codethat may be executed by the computer using an interpreter. The describedhardware devices may be configured to act as one or more softwaremodules in order to perform the operations of the above-describedexemplary embodiments of the present invention, or vice versa.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variation can be made in the present invention withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it isintended that the present invention cover the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling a service control menuin a terminal, comprising: determining an effect of a service accordingto state information of the service; displaying the service control menuincluding an identifier of the service with the effect of the service ona screen; determining whether an error occurs if a change command of thestate information is generated via the displayed service control menu;and if the error occurs, processing the error according to apredetermined process associated with the error, and if the error doesnot occur, changing the state information based on the change command.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the state information comprises atleast one of subscription information, activation information, andcompatibility information.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the erroroccurs if a conflict occurs among a plurality of activated services inthe terminal.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the processing of theerror according to the predetermined process comprises deactivating atleast one of the plurality of activated services in the terminal.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the error occurs if the change command isassociated with a change of a second service to be activated, and thesecond service conflicts with a first service which is activated in theterminal.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the processing of the erroraccording to the predetermined process comprises displaying a message onthe screen, the message requesting a selection of the first service orthe second service.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:changing activation information of the state information of the firstservice to be deactivated, and changing activation information of thestate information of the second service to be activated.
 8. The methodof claim 7, further comprising: determining a new effect of the secondservice based on the state information of the second service; anddisplaying the service control menu including an identifier of thesecond service with the new effect of the second service on the screen.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the error occurs if the change commandis generated with respect to the state information of a supplementaryservice not subscribed to, and the processing of the error according tothe predetermined process includes displaying a message on the screenaccording to the predetermined process associated with the error, andconnecting to a communication service provider of the service if asubscription of the service is selected.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the processing of the error according to the predeterminedprocess comprises reattempting the change command within a predeterminedtime period according to the predetermined process associated with theerror, and displaying a result of the reattempt on the screen if theerror is corresponding to a network.
 11. The method of claim 1, whereinthe effect is at least one of a font, an italics style, a thickness, anunderline style, a shadow style, a color, and an image.
 12. A terminalto provide a service control menu, comprising: an information collectionunit to collect state information associated with a service; a menubuilding unit to determine an effect of the service according to thestate information, to generate an identifier (ID) of the serviceaccording to the state information, and to build a service control menuincluding the effect; a menu display unit to display the service controlmenu, including the service with the effect, on a screen; and an errorprocessing unit to determine whether an error occurs if a change commandof the state information is generated via the service control menu and,if the error occurs, processing the error according to a predeterminedprocess associated with the error, and if the error does not occur,changing the state information based on the change command.
 13. Theterminal of claim 12, wherein the state information comprises at leastone of subscription information, activation information, andcompatibility information.
 14. The terminal of claim 12, wherein theerror occurs if a conflict occurs among the plurality of activatedservices in the terminal.
 15. The terminal of claim 14, wherein theerror processing unit processes the error according to the predeterminedprocess by deactivating at least one of the plurality of activatedservices.
 16. The terminal of claim 12, wherein the error occurs if thechange command is associated with a change of a second service to beactivated, and the second service conflicts with a first service whichis activated in the terminal.
 17. The terminal of claim 16, wherein theerror processing unit processes the error according to the predeterminedprocess by displaying a message on the screen, the message requesting aselection of the first service or the second service.
 18. The terminalof claim 17, wherein the error processing unit changes activationinformation of the state information of the first service to bedeactivated, and changes activation information of the state informationof the second service to be activated.
 19. The terminal of claim 18,wherein the menu building unit determines a new effect of the secondservice based on the state information of the second service; and themenu display unit displays the service control menu including anidentifier of the second service with the new effect of the secondservice on the screen.
 20. The terminal of claim 12, wherein the erroroccurs if the change command is generated with respect to the stateinformation of a service not subscribed to, and the error processingunit processes the error according to the predetermined process bycausing the menu display unit to display a message on the screenaccording to the predetermined process associated with the error, andthe error processing unit connects to a communication service providerof the service if a subscription of the service is selected.
 21. Theterminal of claim 12, wherein the error processing unit processes theerror according to the predetermined process by reattempting the changecommand within a predetermined time period according to thepredetermined process associated with the error, and the menu displayunit displays a result of the reattempt on the screen if the error iscorresponding to a network.
 22. The terminal of claim 12, wherein theeffect is at least one of a font, an italics style, a thickness, anunderline style, a shadow style, a color, and an image.